Drone detection and warning for piloted aircraft

ABSTRACT

A system to detect an airborne drone presenting a flight risk to piloted aircraft and to warn the piloted aircraft of the detected drone. An airborne drone is detected by any of several means, to include receipt of drone location or identification data broadcast by the drone or a ground-based system, or through a piloted aircraft airborne sensor. The safety warning and real-time detection of a hazardous drone may be shared among other piloted aircraft, to include aircraft unequipped with airborne sensors.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/578,434 filed Sep. 23, 2019, and titled “Hazardous DroneIdentification and Avoidance System,” which in turn is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/138,986 filed Sep. 22, 2018, andtitled “Airborne Drone Traffic Broadcasting and Alerting System,” whichin turn is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/333,126filed Oct. 24, 2016 and titled “Drone Alerting and Reporting System,”which in turn claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/245,137 filed Oct. 22, 2015 entitled “Drone Alertingand Reporting System,” the contents of both of which are incorporated byreference in their entirety.

OBJECTIVE

An objective of the disclosed invention is to reduce the hazards posedby drones aka RPVs, UAVs, UMVs to pilots, in particular to generalaviation (G/A) and business aviation pilots.

BACKGROUND

Drone operations have greatly expanded, both in volume and in character.Drones have moved from hobbyist use few in frequency to regular use inbusiness activities such as pipeline inspection. More wide-spread use ofdrones is inevitable, benefiting many businesses and operators.

Drone operators vary in skill and responsibility. Most drone operatorsstrive for safe operation of their drones, adhering to regulatory termsand conditions. Aviation regulations governing drone operations havestruggled to keep up with increased use. Furthermore, not every droneoperator is aware of required regulations and those that areoccasionally err in adhering to those regulations. On some occasions,drones have intruded into regulated airspace or interfered with pilotedaircraft operations. The proliferation of unmanned aircraft raisesconcerns of airborne collisions with manned aircraft.

Toward increasing safety and enforcing evolving regulatory rulesgoverning drone operations, an alerting and reporting system is neededto identify and document errant and unsafe drones and drone operators.This disclosure addresses those needs.

SUMMARY

A system and method is disclosed to alert airborne pilots of thepresence of drone aircraft and to document or report errant drone flightoperations, in particular to alert and report drone aircraft which areof hazard to an airborne pilot's aircraft and/or not operating withinregulations.

In one embodiment, an airborne system to identify and report droneflight operations is disclosed, the system disposed on an aircraft andcomprising: a surveillance subsystem configured to identify a droneoperating in an airspace adjacent the aircraft; an imaging subsystemconfigured to acquire at least one image of the drone; a triggeringsubsystem interconnected with the surveillance subsystem and configuredto activate the imaging subsystem; a navigational subsystem configuredto provide aircraft state data associated with the at least one image;and a communication subsystem configured to transmit the at least oneimage and the associated aircraft state data to a receiving station;wherein the at least one image and the associated aircraft state dataare transmitted to the receiving station.

In another embodiment, a drone reporting system for use during airborneflight operations is disclosed, the system disposed on an aircraft andcomprising: a surveillance module configured to scan and identify adrone operating in an airspace adjacent the aircraft; an imaging modulecomprising a camera configured to acquire at least one image of thedrone; a triggering subsystem interconnected with the surveillancemodule and configured to activate the imaging module; a navigationmodule configured to provide aircraft state data associated with the atleast one image; and a communication module configured to transmit theat least one image and the associated aircraft state data to a receivingstation; wherein a drone operating in an airspace adjacent the aircraftis identified, at least one image of the drone is acquired andtransmitted to the receiving station, the at least one image transmittedwith the associated aircraft state data.

In yet another embodiment, a method of locating and reporting anairborne drone from an airborne aircraft is disclosed, the methodcomprising: providing a system disposed on the airborne aircraft, thesystem comprising a surveillance subsystem, an imaging subsystem, anavigational subsystem and a communication subsystem; identifying, bythe surveillance subsystem, an airborne drone operating in an airspaceadjacent the airborne aircraft; imaging, by the imaging subsystem, theairborne drone wherein at least one image of the airborne drone isacquired; obtaining, by the navigational subsystem, an aircraft statedata associated with the at least one image; broadcasting, by thecommunication subsystem, the at least one image and the associatedaircraft state data to a receiving station.

In another embodiment, a non-transitory computer readable medium havinginstructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor, performa method is disclosed, the method comprising: providing a systemdisposed on the airborne aircraft, the system comprising a surveillancesubsystem, an imaging subsystem, a navigational subsystem and acommunication subsystem; identifying, by the surveillance subsystem, anairborne drone operating in an airspace adjacent the airborne aircraft;imaging, by the imaging subsystem, the airborne drone wherein at leastone image of the airborne drone is acquired; obtaining, by thenavigational subsystem, an aircraft state data associated with the atleast one image; broadcasting, by the communication subsystem, the atleast one image and the associated aircraft state data to a receivingstation.

The phrases “at least one,” “one or more,” and “and/or” are open-endedexpressions that are both conjunctive and disjunctive in operation. Forexample, each of the expressions “at least one of A, B and C,” “at leastone of A, B, or C,” “one or more of A, B, and C,” “one or more of A, B,or C” and “A, B, and/or C” means A alone, B alone, C alone, A and Btogether, A and C together, B and C together, or A, B and C together.

The term “a” or “an” entity refers to one or more of that entity. Assuch, the terms “a” (or “an”), “one or more,” and “at least one” can beused interchangeably herein. It is also to be noted that the terms“comprising,” “including,” and “having” can be used interchangeably.

The term “automatic” and variations thereof, as used herein, refers toany process or operation done without material human input when theprocess or operation is performed. However, a process or operation canbe automatic, even though performance of the process or operation usesmaterial or immaterial human input, if the input is received beforeperformance of the process or operation. Human input is deemed to bematerial if such input influences how the process or operation will beperformed. Human input that consents to the performance of the processor operation is not deemed to be “material.”

A “communication channel” refers to an analog and/or digital physicaltransmission medium such as cable (twisted-pair wire, cable, andfiber-optic cable) and/or other wireline transmission medium, and/or alogical and/or virtual connection over a multiplexed medium, suchmicrowave, satellite, radio, infrared, or other wireless transmissionmedium. A communication channel is used to convey an information signal,for example a digital bit stream, from one or several senders (ortransmitters) to one or several receivers. A communication channel has acertain capacity for transmitting information, often measured by itsbandwidth in Hz or its data rate in bits per second. Communicationchannel performance measures that can be employed in determining aquality or grade of service of a selected channel include spectralbandwidth in Hertz, symbol rate in baud, pulses/s or symbols/s, digitalbandwidth bit/s measures (e.g., gross bit rate (signaling rate), net bitrate (information rate), channel capacity, and maximum throughput),channel utilization, link spectral efficiency, signal-to-noise ratiomeasures (e.g., signal-to-interference ratio, Eb/No, andcarrier-to-interference ratio in decibel), bit-error rate (BER),packet-error rate (PER), latency in seconds, propagation time,transmission time, and delay jitter.

The terms “communication device,” “smartphone,” and “mobile device,” andvariations thereof, as used herein, are used interchangeably and includeany type of device capable of communicating with one or more of anotherdevice and/or across a communications network, via a communicationsprotocol, and the like. Exemplary communication devices may include butare not limited to smartphones, handheld computers, laptops, netbooks,notebook computers, subnotebooks, tablet computers, scanners, portablegaming devices, phones, pagers, GPS modules, portable music players, andother Internet-enabled and/or network-connected devices.

The term “communication system” or “communication network” andvariations thereof, as used herein, refers to a collection ofcommunication components capable of one or more of transmission, relay,interconnect, control, or otherwise manipulate information or data fromat least one transmitter to at least one receiver. As such, thecommunication may include a range of systems supporting point-to-pointto broadcasting of the information or data. A communication system mayrefer to the collection individual communication hardware as well as theinterconnects associated with and connecting the individualcommunication hardware. Communication hardware may refer to dedicatedcommunication hardware or may refer a processor coupled with acommunication means (i.e., an antenna) and running software capable ofusing the communication means to send a signal within the communicationsystem. Interconnect refers some type of wired or wireless communicationlink that connects various components, such as communication hardware,within a communication system. A communication network may refer to aspecific setup of a communication system with the collection ofindividual communication hardware and interconnects having somedefinable network topography. A communication network may include wiredand/or wireless network having a pre-set to an ad hoc network structure.

The term “computer-readable medium” as used herein refers to anytangible storage and/or transmission medium that participate inproviding instructions to a processor for execution. Such a medium maytake many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media,volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatile media includes, forexample, NVRAM, or magnetic or optical disks. Volatile media includesdynamic memory, such as main memory. Common forms of computer-readablemedia include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk,magnetic tape, or any other magnetic medium, magneto-optical medium, aCD-ROM, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any otherphysical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, and EPROM, aFLASH-EPROM, a solid state medium like a memory card, any other memorychip or cartridge, a carrier wave as described hereinafter, or any othermedium from which a computer can read. A digital file attachment toe-mail or other self-contained information archive or set of archives isconsidered a distribution medium equivalent to a tangible storagemedium. When the computer-readable media is configured as a database, itis to be understood that the database may be any type of database, suchas relational, hierarchical, object-oriented, and/or the like.Accordingly, the disclosure is considered to include a tangible storagemedium or distribution medium and prior art-recognized equivalents andsuccessor media, in which the software implementations of the presentdisclosure are stored.

The term “display” refers to a portion of a screen used to display theoutput of a computer to a user.

The terms “determine”, “calculate” and “compute,” and variationsthereof, as used herein, are used interchangeably and include any typeof methodology, process, mathematical operation or technique.

The term “in communication with,” as used herein, refers to anycoupling, connection, or interaction using electrical signals toexchange information or data, using any system, hardware, software,protocol, or format, regardless of whether the exchange occurswirelessly or over a wired connection.

The term “module” as used herein refers to any known or later developedhardware, software, firmware, artificial intelligence, fuzzy logic, orcombination of hardware and software that is capable of performing thefunctionality associated with that element.

The term “means” as used herein shall be given its broadest possibleinterpretation in accordance with 35 U.S.C., Section 112, Paragraph 6.Accordingly, a claim incorporating the term “means” shall cover allstructures, materials, or acts set forth herein, and all of theequivalents thereof. Further, the structures, materials or acts and theequivalents thereof shall include all those described in the summary ofthe invention, brief description of the drawings, detailed description,abstract, and claims themselves.

The term “screen,” “touch screen,” or “touchscreen” refers to a physicalstructure that enables the user to interact with the computer bytouching areas on the screen and provides information to a user througha display. The touch screen may sense user contact in a number ofdifferent ways, such as by a change in an electrical parameter (e.g.,resistance or capacitance), acoustic wave variations, infrared radiationproximity detection, light variation detection, and the like. In aresistive touch screen, for example, normally separated conductive andresistive metallic layers in the screen pass an electrical current. Whena user touches the screen, the two layers make contact in the contactedlocation, whereby a change in electrical field is noted and thecoordinates of the contacted location calculated. In a capacitive touchscreen, a capacitive layer stores electrical charge, which is dischargedto the user upon contact with the touch screen, causing a decrease inthe charge of the capacitive layer. The decrease is measured, and thecontacted location coordinates determined. In a surface acoustic wavetouch screen, an acoustic wave is transmitted through the screen, andthe acoustic wave is disturbed by user contact. A receiving transducerdetects the user contact instance and determines the contacted locationcoordinates. The touch screen may or may not include a proximity sensorto sense a nearness of object, such as a user digit, to the screen.

The term “satellite positioning system receiver” can refer to a wirelessreceiver or transceiver to receive and/or send location signals fromand/or to a satellite positioning system (SPS), such as the GlobalPositioning System (“GPS”) (US), GLONASS (Russia), Galileo positioningsystem (EU), Compass navigation system (China), and RegionalNavigational Satellite System (India).

By way of providing additional background and context for the invention,and to further satisfy the requirements of 25 USC Section 112, thefollowing references are incorporated by reference in entirety for allpurposes: WIPO Pat. Appl. Nos. 2014/115139 entitled “System and Methodsfor Automated Airport Air Traffic Control Services;” and 2013/036727entitled “Device and Method for 3d Sampling with Avian Radar;” U.S. Pat.No. 6,082,675, entitled “Standoff Delivered Sonobuoy;” U.S. Pat. No.8,838,289 entitled “System and method for safely flying unmanned aerialvehicles in civilian airspace;” U.S. Pat. No. 8,643,719 entitled“Traffic and security monitoring system and method;” U.S. Pat. No.9,087,451 entitled “Unmanned aerial vehicle communication, monitoring,and traffic management;” U.S. Pat. No. 7,127,334 entitled “System andmethods for preventing the unauthorized use of aircraft;” U.S. Pat. No.5,581,250 entitled “Visual collision avoidance system for unmannedaerial vehicles U.S. Pat. No. 9,077,731 entitled “Extended GraphicsContext with Common Composting;” U.S. Pat. No. 9,117,318 entitled“Vehicle diagnostic detection through vehicle sensitive skin;” U.S. Pat.Appl. Nos. 2012/0215382 entitled “System and Method for ControllingUnmanned Aerial Vehicle in Flight Space; 2014/0018979 entitled“Autonomous Airspace Flight Planning and Virtual Airspace ContainmentSystem;” 2014/0018976 entitled “System and Method for Unmanned SystemData Collection, Management, and Reporting;” and 2012/0143482 entitled“Electronically File and Fly Unmanned Aerial Vehicle.”

Embodiments include a non-transitory computer readable medium havinginstructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor, performoperations comprising the above methods. Embodiments include a device,means, and/or system configured to perform the above methods.

This Summary of the Invention is neither intended nor should it beconstrued as being representative of the full extent and scope of thepresent disclosure. The present disclosure is set forth in variouslevels of detail in the Summary of the Invention as well as in theattached drawings and the Detailed Description of the Invention, and nolimitation as to the scope of the present disclosure is intended byeither the inclusion or non-inclusion of elements, components, etc. inthis Summary of the Invention. Additional aspects of the presentdisclosure will become more readily apparent from the DetailedDescription, particularly when taken together with the drawings.

The above-described benefits, embodiments, and/or characterizations arenot necessarily complete or exhaustive, and in particular, as to thepatentable subject matter disclosed herein. Other benefits, embodiments,and/or characterizations of the present disclosure are possibleutilizing, alone or in combination, as set forth above and/or describedin the accompanying figures and/or in the description herein below.However, the Detailed Description of the Invention, the drawing figures,and the exemplary claim set forth herein, taken in conjunction with thisSummary of the Invention, define the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention andtogether with the general description of the invention given above, andthe detailed description of the drawings given below, serve to explainthe principals of this invention.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual drawing of the drone alerting and reportingsystem according to one embodiment;

FIG. 2A is a conceptual diagram of aircraft and sensor orientationaccording to the prior art;

FIG. 2B is a conceptual diagram of surveillance sensor geometriesaccording to the prior art;

FIG. 3A is one embodiment of a data structure of input data to thesystem of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3B is one embodiment of a data structure of output data from thesystem of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4A is one embodiment of flight map data reported by the system ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 4B is another embodiment of flight map data reported by the systemof FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a flow-chart of one embodiment of a method of use of thesystem of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6A is a conceptual drawing of one example operational mode of thedrone alerting and reporting system;

FIG. 6B is a conceptual drawing of another example operational mode ofthe drone alerting and reporting system; and

FIG. 6C is a conceptual drawing of yet another example operational modeof the drone alerting and reporting system.

It should be understood that the drawings are not necessarily to scale.In certain instances, details that are not necessary for anunderstanding of the invention or that render other details difficult toperceive may have been omitted. It should be understood, of course, thatthe invention is not necessarily limited to the particular embodimentsillustrated herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference to FIGS. 1-6, a system and method for drone alerting andreporting is disclosed. Generally, the system 100 is disposed on a hostaircraft 200, such as a general aviation aircraft, and surveils adjacentairspace while the host aircraft 200 is airborne. Observed droneaircraft 300, in some cases drone aircraft posing a threat to the hostaircraft 200 or otherwise operating in an unsafe or wrongful manner, areidentified and recorded or documented. The recording, which may comprisean image, is then communicated to an entity, such as a governmentalregulatory entity, that is interested in safe and proper drone flightoperations.

FIG. 1 depicts the drone alerting and reporting system 100 comprisinghost aircraft 200, target drone 300, earth datum 400 and concernedairspace management entity 580 with database 590. The host aircraft 200follows flight path vector 202 and is piloted by pilot 210 who operatesa system input/output device 220 which may allow selectable operationalcontrol and management of system 100. The input/output device 220 maycomprise a display. Airborne components disposed on aircraft 200 (whichin one embodiment, one or more are detachable) comprise surveillancesubsystem 230 comprising sensor with principal look vector 232, aircraftdatabase 240, aircraft communication subsystem 250 broadcasting ortransmitting data stream 251, aircraft navigation subsystem 260, andaircraft data management subsystem 270.

Aircraft surveillance subsystem 230 comprises one or more sensorsdirected at target drone 300 along sensor prime look vector 232. Sensormay comprise any sensors known to those skilled in the art to includecameras in any frequency to include visible and IR bands, and radars inknown bands to include MMW bands. Sensors may capture still imagesand/or multiple images as video images and may be captured withassociated aircraft navigational data system 260 data such as aircraftposition, time stamp e.g. in UTC time, INU data of aircraft and/orsensor. Navigational data may comprise satellite positional data. Suchsensor image data of drone 300 may be manipulated, massaged and/orsynchronized, with the host aircraft state data, via a data managementsystem 270 and may include earth reference datum information such aslocal geographic features. The term “camera” comprises a single shot“still” camera and video camera, with the ability to photograph an areasurrounding the host aircraft, comprising below, above and adjacent thehost aircraft flight path. The captured drone data may also beassociated with aircraft moving mapping software or data such as thatprovided by available commercial products, to include ForeFlight™software. Sensor capturing of airborne targets and associated such datawith navigational data (e.g. airborne host aircraft data) or withground-based features is known in the art, as shown in FIG. 2A.

The data management system 270 may also arrange the captured imagerydata of drone so as to conform to concerned airspace management entity580 reporting requirements. For example, concerned airspace managemententity 580 FAA may request or require that reports of errant aircraft,such as errant drones, be provided in a specified format; as such, inone embodiment the data management system 270 prepares the capturederrant drone data in such a format prior to broadcasting orcommunicating such data to the FAA.

In some embodiments, the surveillance subsystem 230 and/or the recordingsystem is triggered by a trigger event, such as side track distance toan intended drone flight path or the observation of a drone. In someembodiments, on the occurrence of a trigger event, recording beginsand/or alternate sensor system types or sensor parameters areestablished. In some embodiments, upon a trigger event, one or morecameras may enter an operating mode wherein continuous filming is taken(e.g. video or a rapid sequence of still shots).

The surveillance system, e.g. a visible band camera, may operate in anyof several modes comprising periodic recording (e.g. every 1 sec), uponon/off activation (i.e. a single photo) per users comprising pilot, crewmember and passenger activation, based on routing (e.g. between legs ofhost aircraft flight plan or a particular known drone flight plan), oras triggered by an event. Trigger event may be an identified droneoperation, as predicted by a comparison of host aircraft flight path orplan and a particular drone flight plan or path, or as alerted byanother pilot or a ground-based entity (e.g. FAA controller, planespotter, drone spotter, etc.).

A trigger event may result in an alert comprising an alert to the pilot,crew member, and passenger and/or a broadcast of a recording associatedwith the trigger event. In some embodiments, the surveillance system maybe operated manually by a user comprising pilot, crew members and/orpassengers. Surveillance system sensors e.g. camera may be mounted onthe belly of aircraft, aircraft empennage or other mounting locationknown to those skilled in the art.

In one embodiment, the system 100 operates without pilot input. That is,the system 100 operates autonomously without human input. Morespecifically, once the host aircraft is airborne, the systemautomatically scans or surveils adjacent airspace to aircraft 200 alongone or both sides of aircraft flight path vector 202, records earthdatum data and host aircraft state data and sensor state or orientationdata, performs any data formatting adjustments, and then broadcasts ortransmits the data to an entity concerned or interested in droneactivity.

Sensor scanning or surveillance may be along both sides of aircraft 200forming a swath angle as shown in FIG. 2B. Swatch dimension is definedas along the flight path of the aircraft and of substantially equallateral distance to either side of aircraft, as shown in FIG. 2B. In oneembodiment, swath distance is no more than 1 nautical mile (i.e.plus/minus 0.5 nautical mile each side of aircraft flight path). Inanother embodiment, swath distance is no more than 2 nautical miles. Inanother embodiment, swath distance is no more than 6 nautical miles. Inanother embodiment, swath distance is no more than 10 nautical miles. Asswath distance is a function of aircraft altitude, the above swathdistance may result in the sensor adjusting its scan angle to satisfy agiven swath width. For example, an aircraft at 1,500 ft MSL requires ascan at 76 degree to cover a swath of 2 nautical miles (asarctan(6076/1500)=76 degree). In some embodiments, scan angle (on eachside) is less than 80 degrees. In another embodiment, scan angle is lessthan 65 degree. In another embodiment, scan angle is less than 45degrees.

Data may be uploaded to host aircraft 200 to assist in system 100operations, such as operation of surveillance system 230 and/or datamanagement system 270. For example, data may be uploaded or received byaircraft database 240 to direct the one or more sensors of surveillancesubsystem 230. (For example, a sensor may be guided or “trained” totrack an intended or filed flight plan of a particular drone.) Anexemplar data structure of input data 252 to aircraft database isdepicted in FIG. 3A. Other data structures and data are possible. InFIG. 3A, a drone identifier number is provided as data element 254A.Such a registration number may be provided by a regulatory entity suchas the FAA. Element 254B provides a flight plan for a particular drone,e.g. an area of operation such as “area 4.” Other flight plans mayprovide more traditional waypoints and full VFR or IFR piloted-likeflight plans e.g. KAPA to KBDU to KAPA, perhaps with time of departure,time enroute, etc. Data element 254C provides time of use, that is, thetime of operation for the drone. Other data items may provide type ofdrone, regulatory limits of a drone (e.g. flight only line of sight tooperator, flight below 400 feet, etc.). Rows 256A-236E provide examplesof complete exemplar data records for four drones. Aircraft may beconfigured to receive airborne updates of drone operations to includenew or modified drone flight plans.

Data output or broadcast or communicated by the host aircraft 200 toconcerned airspace management entity 580 may be as provided by exemplarydata structure 257. The data structure 257 provides data as associatedwith an identification, recording and/or alerting by aircraft 200 ofdrone 300. A typical flight record 259 is now described. Element 258Aprovides a calendar date, while element 258B an aircraft position, e.g.in latitude-longitude and element 258C an aircraft altitude. Theelements 258B and 258C may readily be provided by an onboardnavigational system. Element 258D may be pilot entered or derived fromaircraft attitude and conditions, e.g. take-off may be determined basedon position on runway, acceleration to take-off speed and pitch upattitude. The estimated drone location 258E may be determined orestimated from mathematical computations of sensor orientation, relativeto the aircraft, with addition of range to drone data (e.g. from a radarreturn) or perhaps through comparison of multiple images so as totriangulate from a sequence of images. Element 258F provides type ofcamera data, e.g. visible band, IR, etc. Flight map 258G indicates ifflight map data are also available, as depicted in FIGS. 4A-B. Element258H may be a pilot entered data item, e.g. as shown a pilot enterednote that the particular drone identification is a repeat occurrence.

FIGS. 4A-B provide an exemplar flight map, respectively map 261 and 262,where map 262 is a close-up of map 261. In each map, the aircraftlocation is identified as element 291 and drone as element 292.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a general order of one method 500 of use of thedrone alerting and reporting system 100, using the embodiment of FIG. 1.The method will be described with reference to FIGS. 1-4. The method 500can include more or fewer steps or can arrange the order of the stepsdifferently than those shown in FIG. 5. The method starts at step 594and ends at step 560.

At step 508, the host aircraft receives drone flight plan data such asdescribed with respect to FIG. 3A. The method proceeds to step 512wherein the host aircraft begins its flight. The method continues tostep 516 wherein the airborne monitor/report system is turned on, e.g.by the pilot or crew member or passenger. In some embodiments, thesystem automatically turns on when the host aircraft is airborne, suchas triggered by a weight on wheels sensor or other means known in theart to determine that the aircraft is airborne.

The method 500 continues to step 520 where system parameters may beselected. Selectable parameters comprise sensor suite selection (e.g.visible band still camera only, camera plus video, IR camera, MMW radar,etc.), sensor surveillance pattern (e.g. swath width as shown in FIG.2B, single side sensing only), and recording parameters (e.g. to includemapping recordings as shown in FIGS. 4A-B). In one embodiment, one ormore system parameters are automatically selected, e.g. by on-board datamanagement system. In one embodiment, all system parameters areautomatically selected. In one embodiment, the sensor scanning isgoverned and/or influenced by the drone flight plans uploaded orreceived at step 508. The method continues to step 524 whereinsurveillance begins.

At step 528, a query is made if a drone of interest has been identified.If the response is NO, the method continues to step 530 whereinsurveillance continues. If the response is YES, system parameters areadjusted at step 532. The adjustment at step 532 allows, among otherthings, for additional or alternate sensors to be directed at the droneof interest, or for adjustment of sensors already engaged with thedrone. For example, if a single visible camera was initially solelyengaged as surveillance at step 520, at step 532 an additional cameramay be trained on the drone, or sampling rate and/or resolution of oneor more sensors may be increased or adjusted. Step 532 may be performedmanually by pilot, passenger or crew member, or may be fully orpartially automated. The adjustments and selections at steps 520 and/or532 may be determined or influenced by data provided at step 508. At thecompletion of step 532, the method 500 continues to step 536 where thesurveillance of the drone of interest is recorded. In some embodiments,recording of any operational surveillance sensor is performed wheneverthe system is operable, that is, e.g. beginning at step 516. The step536 continues until recording ends at step 540 and the method continuesto step 544.

At step 544, a query is made as to whether the recording should bebroadcast. If the reply is NO, the method 500 continues to step 556. Ifthe reply is YES, the method continues to step 548. At step 548, areceiving site for the data is selected, in some embodiments manually bypilot, crew member or passenger and in others, in a semi or fullyautomatic manner. For example, system 100 may be programmed or set toautomatically send recordings to the FAA perhaps at a designated FAArecording URL. In some embodiments, the system, e.g. by way of datamanagement system, adjusts the raw recorded data so as to place therecorded data in a designated format and/or protocol requested orrequired by a particular receiving site, e.g. the FAA. The data may beprepared to include to data format described with respect to FIG. 3B.The method then continues to step 556.

At step 556, a query is made as to whether the flight is continuing. Thequery may be answered manually by the pilot, crew member or passenger,or may be semi or fully automatically made, for example by any knownmeans to determine if the aircraft is still airborne. If the response toquery 556 is NO, the method 500 continues to step 560 wherein the method500 ends. If the response to the query is YES, the method 500 continuesto step 558 wherein surveillance continues.

In some embodiments, the automatic or semi-automatic control of systemsor components, as described above, is implemented by computer hardware,software, or a combination thereof. In one embodiment, the report ordocumentation of drone activity is broadcast to adjacent aircraft,either as a broad broadcast on through directed communication toidentified or registered aircraft. For example, a registry listing ofaircraft requesting shared reports of drone activity may be stored inthe data management system wherein such parties receive reports of droneactivity identified by the system 100. In some embodiments, the reportof drone activity is sent to parties comprising air traffic control, lawenforcement, emergency medical service, airborne firefighting, andmilitary. The operational modes of the system as described above arepresented as FIGS. 6A-C; a stand-alone mode as FIG. 6A, a grounddatabase assist mode as FIG. 6B, and a multi-aircraft ground assist modeof FIG. 6C.

In some embodiments, the drone identified or sensed is a non-cooperativetarget. In one embodiment, the report broadcast by host aircraft isplaced into NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System format and/orprotocol, wherein the report is filed directly with NASA. In someembodiments, the documentation of drone activity is sent once the hostaircraft is on the ground and/or is stored on the data managementsystem.

1. A method to detect an airborne drone comprising: acquiring at leastone image of an airborne drone using a sensor mounted on a firstaircraft; and transmitting the at least one image of the airborne droneto a receiving station; wherein the at least one image of the airbornedrone is received by the receiving station.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the at least one image of the airborne drone is at least one ofan airborne drone position and an airborne drone identification.
 3. Themethod of claim 2, wherein the at least one image of the airborne droneis transmitted by the airborne drone.
 4. The method of claim 1, whereinthe at least one image of the airborne drone is a radar signal eitherreflected from the airborne drone or emitted by the airborne drone. 5.The method of claim 1, wherein a detected airborne drone locationassociated with the at least one image of the airborne drone isbroadcast and received by a second aircraft.
 6. The system of claim 1,wherein a first aircraft state data associated with the at least oneimage of the airborne drone is transmitted from the first aircraft tothe receiving station.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the receivingstation is at least one of a ground based receiving station and a secondaircraft.
 8. A system to warn a pilot of a first aircraft of a drone,the system comprising: a first aircraft communication system of thefirst aircraft; a broadcast station in communication with the firstaircraft communication system; wherein: drone data is communicatedbetween the broadcast station and the first aircraft communicationsystem; and the pilot of the first aircraft is provided a warningassociated with the drone data.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein thedrone data is transmitted to the broadcast station by the first aircraftcommunication system.
 10. The system of claim 8, wherein the drone datais emitted by the drone and received by at least one of the firstaircraft communication system and the broadcast station.
 11. The systemof claim 8, wherein the drone data is transmitted by the broadcaststation to the first aircraft.
 12. The system of claim 8, wherein thedrone data is at least one of drone identification data and droneposition data.
 13. The system of claim 8, wherein: the drone data aretransmitted by the drone, the drone data comprises drone identificationdata, and the drone data are transmitted to at least one of a lawenforcement party, an emergency medical service party, and an airbornefire-fighting party.
 14. A drone warning system for a piloted aircraft,comprising: at least one subsystem receiving drone data andcommunicating with a receiving station, the at least one subsystemcoupled to the piloted aircraft; wherein: the drone data is at least oneof drone identifier data and drone position data; and the drone data areused to generate a warning to a pilot of the piloted aircraft.
 15. Thesystem of claim 14, wherein the drone data are broadcast by an airbornedrone.
 16. The system of claim 14, wherein at least some of the dronedata are transmitted to a second piloted aircraft.
 17. The system ofclaim 14, wherein: an airborne drone transmits the drone data to the atleast one subsystem, and the at least one subsystem transmits dataassociated with the drone data to the receiving station.
 18. The systemof claim 17, wherein the receiving station transmits data associatedwith the drone data to a second aircraft.
 19. The system of claim 14,wherein: the drone data are transmitted by an airborne drone to thereceiving station, and the receiving station transmits data associatedwith the drone data to the piloted aircraft.
 20. The system of claim 19,wherein: the drone data comprises drone identifier data, and thereceiving station is a ground-based receiving station.